Casa Blanca, a real estate app that aims to make shopping for homes like using a dating app, officially launched on Tuesday.
With Casa Blanca, buyers and renters alike simply create a profile and list their preferences, then swipe right or left on the prospective homes that come up. The app sorts the listings based on the given user’s criteria and gets smarter with each swipe. Also like a dating app, Casa Blanca organizes the listings based on location, saves the ones that users swiped right on and hides the rest.
“We wanted to build something that was engaging and made the process of finding a home fun, yet familiar,” co-founder and CEO Hannah Bomze told Built In via email. “We knew that customization would be key when building the app. We designed a proprietary algorithm to go beyond square footage and budget. Our search includes familial status, day-to-day lifestyle necessities and neighborhood must-haves to serve each user with homes that best fit his or her lifestyle.”
Once a user finds a home they want, they are matched with a Casa Blanca real estate agent who can then schedule visits and guide them through the buying or renting process from there. Because of its non-traditional commission structure, the company claims to be the only real estate app of its kind to offer users as much as 1 percent cash back at closing.
Bomze is an NYC real estate veteran and says, through the years, she noticed the industry become more tech-centric. Power was shifting away from traditional brokerage firms to online real estate marketplaces, making listings more accessible to the public. So she decided to build Casa Blanca as a way to bring a more personalized, approachable touch to the evolving industry.
These days the real estate industry has to be more high tech than ever, and Bomze believes the app is particularly well suited for the new normal the COVID-19 pandemic has created.
“We’ve integrated the entire home search into a centralized hub to give clients the support and tools they need to find their dream home,” Bomze said. “Casa Blanca is designed to streamline the house hunting process and bring users the listings they want to see faster. Clients are able to do everything from scheduling viewings to chatting with an in-house agent all within the app.”
Casa Blanca claims to have made more than $100 million in sales while it was in beta, and is projected to reach $250 million in 2021. The app is currently only available for use in NYC, but Bomze says the company will be expanding into other markets soon.
